


Tides of Trust

by RoseWithAllHerThorns



Category: Girl Genius
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 11:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11851065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseWithAllHerThorns/pseuds/RoseWithAllHerThorns
Summary: The future feels like the present, where change comes every week.But something about Agatha and Tarvek's bond feels concrete.





	Tides of Trust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [raininshadows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raininshadows/gifts).



"What happened, grandmother?" Tarvek asked, as she pulled him and his sister along by the elbow, her face wrinkled with mild disgust.

"Do you remember Henilk and Wyndra?"

"Yes, even I remember them, grandmother," his sister interjected, hopping agitatedly from one foot to the other. "They're not using their fiefdom right."

Tarvek nodded along after her. As always, it was safer to leave firm statements and concrete positions to other people.

"Well, your memory's all that will be left of them now." Grandmother paused, looked back at something over the crowd, and shut the door behind them.

"Why're we leaving them, then?"

"The corpses aren't something you should poke around." Grandmother shook her head. "Your father didn't teach you that, did he?"

"We've seen dead bodies before, grandmother. It's okay." Tarvek pulled himself to his full height, a four year old trying to reassure an adult.

"Of course you have. I'll have a talk with my son. There are rules about this." Tarvek would later learn those rules were put in place to stop Sparks from cannibalizing their own children for parts and scrap. Somehow they hadn't protected Anevka from anything. He sometimes wished that they could have seen some of the finer points of Spark work before their own breakthrough. Other times, he was happy for it.

Tarvek did learn, not long after, that they had been assassinated by their own family. It was something he always thought could never happen to _him_.

It’s childish naivety in retrospect, as his sister kills his mother and his father kills his sister.

Though blood is no barrier, he will have to find something that is.

.-.-.

He almost thinks Gil is a friend who'd never betray him for a while, and that secrets shared voluntarily, rather than sniffed out through spies and papers, would bond them. Well, in addition to the rooting for secrets.

After that, he learns something important. He’s his only certain ally, and the only one who can do the best thing at the best time.

.-.-.

Now, after the fall of Sturmhalten and the freezing of Mechanicsburg, his hopes are pinned on Agatha’s sleeve as well, for more reasons than he’d share with any one person. She’s one of the strongest Sparks he’s ever seen, and her madness seems almost reasonable in the thick of it some of the others he’s witnessed. She’s the heiress to a fortress and a prophecy that would be very useful to anyone who got their hands on them, if they aren’t dismantled first.

There’s no one he wants a yes from quite like Agatha. But somehow, it’s not because she’s the Heterodyne Girl.

.-.-.

“You’re saying that the Reptilian Republic is actually run by the Chimpanzees?” Agatha looks only slightly incredulous about the subject. To be fair, she only learned that the Reptilian Republic existed this afternoon.

“Well, yes.” Tarvek coughs into his richly dyed sleeve, which is covered in gore. It’s also a Loombeister, so it should wash out even if they have to go on the run again. “There’s been a lot of back and forth and conflicting evidence, but based on the reports I’ve been getting, that seems most likely.”

“Vell.” Jenka leans forward. “The reports I’ve been getting say it’s a joint conspiracy between the Aviators and the Molemen, with the Chimpanzees as a front.”

“I got those reports too, but it seems like planted evidence to me, to throw us off the track. I can’t discount it entirely, but I’d discourage us going to the Chimp Cabana for help. They’re still upset about Vollaby.” And the hole left in the walls directly behind them.

“And that leaves?”

“The Magma Monarchy and the Klingbling Kingdom.”

“The Klingblings were overthrown last week, and there’s been no ruler established yet. It’s chaotic territory, but it’s also nearly a total communication blackout. I think we should be safer there than anywhere else.” Jenka says

“Oh. Overthrown.” Tarvek facepalms and considers his next suggestion carefully.

“There’s always the bar in Cehnburg,” Oggie suggests.

“The Weather Vents have influence there,” Jenka and Tarvek say in unison.

“Oh. Vhy didn’t anybody tell me that?” Oggie asks.

“If nowhere’s safe, we can always take care of ourselves,” Agatha huffs, and clenches a wire between her teeth as she fiddles with a gun in her hands, nearly the size of her leg. Tarvek leans over, his chin nearly resting on her shoulder, and Agatha allows him to witness the ongoing, frenzied climax of her work, her muffled Heterodyning echoing in his ear. He’s never seen anyone try to use fluid mechanics quite like that, oh, and there’s a coupling in there he knows just how to optimize if he wanted to make a really precise blast-

Tarvek pulls himself away before the world narrows to him, Agatha, and how they can solve their problems, if only so he can try something involving more finesse and less traces of their path. The harder it is for the Others to track them, the better off they are.

“My suggestion is that we go to the Magmas.”

“It’s out of our way.”

“Yes, but the ruling Spark there has done some really fascinating work with tectonic currents.”

“I heard the last guy to try it barely fried from heat stroke!” Dimo’s wide grin is at odds with his words. “And it’s been a while since we got word of dose guys.”

“That’s promising.” Agatha screws the final hatch shut, and looks Tarvek in the eyes. “They don’t have a running treaty for safe passage, if I heard correctly.”

“I think you did.” He can’t stop a smile, strained as it is. She knows more about politics than she used to.

“Why do you think they’ll let us through, then?”

“I have some contacts in the capital. I only regained contact with them recently, but I don’t think their situation has changed beyond recognition. And no treaty for safe passage means we don't have an extraction treaty to worry about.” He doesn’t rub the hidden pocket in his coat, with its reinforced lining and invaluable information inside.

She stares him down for a long moment, gears clicking inside her head, weighing the chances and her own trust. "We'll try the Magmas, then."

It means he’ll have to play some of his cards earlier than he’d planned. It might mean giving up information he’s not totally sure of, which is dangerous work. And he’ll have to wear a stupid costume again.

"I don't know about you, but I'm taking a bath before we set off again." Violetta looked from one to the other, then left with a small crowd.

Tarvek's drift towards what might be the only arsenic free water they'll see for a while is interrupted by a warm hand on his arm.

"Agatha?" Her hold loosens when Tarvek turns.

"I was thinking of looking at the Sparkwork on those giraffes. Would you care to join me?"

There's nothing subtle about his smile now, and her face lightens in response. 

"Of course!"

.-.-.

The giraffes are half organic, half cyborg, and all a mess of oil and blood. 

But there's no doubt in his mind that when the spark's work reminds him of a Spark, he'll mention it. Agatha is strangely safe and dangerous. 


End file.
